Don’t think for a second this is an easy trip. Backpacking, you will travel more than 8000kms of the most iconic train line in the world, covering hundreds of years in history, a communion of different cultures sewed by a train line. You’ll get to know the capital of Siberia, born from the line itself. You will climb the Great Wall of China’s steep walls, and get to know the people that were once the enemies it was protecting from, Genghis Khan and the great Mongolian Empire. A trip that starts on the luxurious Moscow avenues, crossing the shamanic landscapes of Siberian and lake Baikal, visiting the only Buddhist temple authorised by Stalin. Are you ready for the trip of your lifetime?

Welcome to Moscow!
Moscow is one of the World’s largest capitals. However, despite its 12 million inhabitants within a 40kms radius, the feeling we get is one from a clean, organised and open city. 40% of the urban area is made of green areas, the streets are wide, and the architecture is stunning.

Free day in Moscow, and we will enjoy the best of our time here.
In the morning, after breakfast, we return to some of the most important parts of the city. In the afternoon, take a short tour of Moscow’s most incredible Metro stations, which are authentic Museums and chapters filled with history!

The provodnitsa, responsible for the proper functioning of each carriage, indicates us our beds. Let’s settle in. In the next couple days, this is our new home.
Passengers start accommodating themselves: slowly, each compartment begins to take the same contours of their houses. Here people cook, read, dream. Settle yourself, as are about to start the journey of a lifetime!

We will explore our train amongst its turns and shaky rides. The bar-carriage is open every day from 9 am till 12 am, local time. Local time, however, is always uncertain, because while we travel along the lines, we’ll be moving across different time zones as well. When we reach our destination (by tomorrow), we would have crossed four time zones.
Along the route, there will be a couple of stops where we can leave the train and explore the surrounding areas: Druzhinino and Yekaterinburg. Yekaterinburg it the Easter-nest city in the Ural Mountains, and marks the beginning of Asia: welcome to your next continent!

We arrive in Novosibirsk during the morning. We’ve already crossed four time zones, and our journey has barely started!

Our hotel is conveniently located close to the station and amongst the cities main attractions. We jump in the well-deserved showers, lay down on those comfortable non-shaking beds, and lastly, we have dinner in a restaurant of our choice, here in the capital of Siberia.

Another free day, today entirely of your choice. Museums, parks, libraries… moreover, for those who’d like, an excellent opportunity to enjoy the Russian banya with the traditional venik (not included). Novosibirsk is a city where we will conveniently shake off the hardness of the train. Together, or each one on their own, we’ll cease the day. Later, we meet back at the huge train station, already by night, where we can share stories under the enormous palace-worthy chandeliers in the waiting lounges.

Another full day on the train. During morning time, we can exit the train at Ilanskaya. Here we can visit a little train museum, inside the train station. We do however recommend you to leave your cameras behind since photography is not allowed here. Rumour has it a Lonely Planer photographer was arrested here a few years ago, and we’d love you to complete de journey with us, preferably all the way until Beijing!

We will arrive during the morning at Irkutsk train station, and we’ll jump on the first bus to Olkhon Island.
When we arrive at our guesthouse, we’ll take some well-deserved showers; we’ll have dinner and then relax. On the island, there isn’t much technology, but there are billions of stars above us and new experiences awaiting at each turn.

Today we’ll drive on a UAZ, a 4×4 Russian van, to the Northernness point of the island, Cape Khoboi, which is also the holiest shaman place in Baikal. It’s quite an impressive landscape, with steep, sharp rocks plumbing into this water that reminds us of the ocean, but it’s sweet, like a lake.
We’ll have the traditional fish soup for lunch, with omul, the Baikal fish, and a tea made from local herbs. Both prepared for us by our driver, while we walk around the area.

Early morning, we get on our mini-bus that will take us to Irkutsk. We’ll be sleeping in a central hostel, a place that was entirely renovated by two young locals. Today we take the opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Irkutsk, walking through the 130 Kvartal neighbourhood, where we’ll understand better why Irkutsk is nicknamed the “Paris of Siberia”. We’ll keep our walk alongside the river.

We said goodbye to Irkutsk, and we prepare to get our train after lunch – get ready for the most beautiful part of the whole trip! Between the 5185km and 5321km it is time to make good use of the cameras: the tight corners and slope of the line (the steepest of the whole trip) make this the photogenic pinnacle of the trip. Get to the left side of the train, and stick to the windows: admire Lake Baikal in all its fullness, almost skimming the line, while the convoy encircles, enchanted, towards Ulan Ude, our last stop before Mongolia.

Today we spend the day in the peculiar Ulan Ude, capital of Buryatia, a city that until 1991 was closed to tourists. One of its main attractions is the gigantic head of Lenin in the main square which, with its stunning 42 tons and almost 8m high, makes it not only Lenin’s biggest head but also the most significant monument to Lenin throughout the world. We’ll then visit a Buddhist temple with a spectacular sunset view over the Selenge, a river that springs in Mongolia, where we will be travelling to tomorrow.

Today we bid farewell to Russia and Siberia, and head towards Mongolia. We will cross the border at Naushki, 5902Kms from Moscow, and 0km from Mongolia. This small village, which is just a border post, with one foot in Russia and another in Mongolia, is our interregnum for passport verification and other customs affairs. We stand still here for about 1h50, and then we will do anther 1h45 stop in Sukhbaatar, where we repeated the process, this time with the Mongolian officers.
By night, look through the windows: this is most likely, one of the starriest skies on the planet!

We arrive in Ulaanbaatar at 6.50am. It’s early to check-in, so we can drop our backpacks and walk to the centre, go for a walk, have lunch, and observe this city which is still torn between a sizeable Asian capital and an old rumbled Asian city.
Later in de day, we will watch a live show featuring the best of Mongolian culture and traditional performative arts: the incredible throat singing and swirly dances, as well as theatre and acrobatics.

Today we’ll commence our nomad lifestyle experience. Early morning, our private van will come to pick us up, to take us across the Mongolian steppes. We will visit Soviet monuments, royal palaces, Buddhist temples, the Genghis Khan giant statue and the Terelj National Park.
We will be staying with a local family, and have a traditional Mongolian barbecue for dinner.

Today we head west towards Karakorum, the ancient Mongol empire’s capital city. On the way, we will stop in a small village where we have our philanthropic project and have lunch with a local family. Just before reaching Karakorum, we will stop at the Khamba Monastery, near the dunes. At night we still have time to watch a traditional throat singing show.

Before heading back to Ulaanbaatar, we stop nearby a lake for a scenic picnic lunch. Later in the day, we will visit the Hustai National Park NGO, where we will have the opportunity to know more about the Takhi horse, the only wild breed of horses in the world.

Free day today, to use wisely: we’ll split between launderettes, museums, temples and markets. Mongolia is a nice place for souvenirs, and the post office is conveniently located in the city centre. Time to send some post to our family and friends!

One more train ride, the last from our Trans-Siberian journey.
On this journey, we crossed the new border. We await at the modern customs in Erlian, while the train adapts to the narrower Chinese lines.

China – Beijing. The land where there’s no Google, no Facebook, no Twitter. Chinese people have strange habits, they love “selfying” with tourists, eating fried scorpions and smoking everywhere. Beijing is a long distance away from the chic Moscow we seen eight time zones ago.
We stay in a hotel that oozes Chinese culture, right in the heart of Beijing, and grab some food from the traditional hutongs!

Early morning, we start our long way to the Great Wall of China, where we’ll spend the entire day. It’s a long ride (around 2h), but it’s well worth it! Waving through the mountains, these millennial and overpowering fortifications were built to protect the Chinese people against the Mongol invaders.
The wall is extremely challenging! If you’d like to take it easy, you can take a cable car that will drop you off in the middle of the wall (price is not included on our tour). However, if you like challenges, you can climb up the 2kms to the wall, where you can face the 10kms of the wall with breathtaking views that will make you feel completely overwhelmed with joy!
By the end of the day, when we go back to Beijing, where I suggest you try the prime of Beijing food: Peking duck!